iGate posts 71% rise in Dec quarter net profit

iGate, the Nasdaq-listed information technology services provider, has posted growth of 71 per cent in its net profit to $14.7 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010, when compared with the same period a year before.

The company, which follows a calender year, reported revenues of $81 mn, with 55 per cent growth over the corresponding period last year, driven by growth in existing accounts.

For the entire year, net profit jumped 81 per cent to $51.8 mn from $28.6 mn a year before. Revenues saw a rise of 45.3 per cent to $280.6 m when compared with the corresponding quarter last year.

The company saw gross margins of 40.2 per cent and operating margins of 18.9 per cent for the full year ended December 31.

Phaneesh Murthy, CEO, said, “I am especially delighted with our strong earnings growth. However, we have to do some heavy-lifting in 2011. We have to focus on our integration with Patni and deliver value quickly.”

During the quarter, iGate made a net addition of 82 employees, taking the total to 8,360 employees as of December 31. It added three new customers. On January 10, it had announced that its subsidiaries had executed definitive agreements to acquire a majority stake in the Mumbai-based IT services and BPO provider, Patni Computer Systems.

The transaction is valued at approximately $1.22 billion, and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2011.

The company expects the transaction to be accretive by 2012 on a non-GAAP diluted earnings per share basis.